Be prepared: Emergency preparedness

I mean, really, why prepare for an emergency (earthquake, tornado, etc)? It’s like this: why buy car or health insurance? Why keep a 401k or savings account?

I think you get my point: An emergency may not happen (we hope it doesn’t, but we know they do), but it’s better to prepare. My father sometimes says, "I buy insurance, hoping I never have to use it, hoping it’s a financial loss." I feel the same way about emergency preparedness.

Easy preparedness steps:

* Check out 3days3ways.org, a site maintained by King County in Washington State. Their mantra: Make a plan, Build a kit, Get involved.

* CPR / First Aid: 5 or so hours, and you may save a life (or lives). A relatively simple commitment. For my new career in senior living, I recently took a CPR / First Aid Certification class with Megan Maples (wow – she’s great).

* Crash kit: We keep a "crash kit" in our vehicle and in our home: food, first aid supplies, water, flashlights, radio. Easy. And keep that gas tank full (or at least fill it when it lowers to the 1/2 or 1/4 remaining mark). The last few years we’ve had difficult winter storms – one year, we’d lost power for 2-3 days; so batteries, canned food and charged batteries were a great help. And each winter, you hear of someone stuck in a snowstorm, having to survive for hours or days before help arrives.

So, am I being dramatic or extremist? No, I don’t think so. These are simple steps which may save a life, or keep you relatively comfortable in an emergency. Easy.


Comments

  1. Brenda, the post is timely. Thanks for sharing. I guess we have to get started on this.

    -Suma.

    ReplyDelete

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